An empirical study of outbound tourism in Japan during the international tourism transformation period

Abstract

This paper aims at discussing outbound tourism demand during Japan's economic boom period. Although inbound tourism is generally regarded as significant in present-day Japan, outbound tourism was mainstream from the 1970s to the 1990s as a means of balancing international trade. This situation was also convenient for travel agencies, since many Japanese took the opportunity to travel overseas. Demographical analysis results show that male travelers dominated in 1971, while the number of female and younger travelers increased by 1989. This paper also applied a regression model to demonstrate tourism demand and found that the distance friction increased in 1989. This result was influenced by tourists' preference for Asia-Pacific regions as opposed to European destinations. In terms of price competitiveness, many tourists were likely to visit more expensive countries, a finding that contradicts general theory. In this paper, it was concluded that at this time, many tourists demanded luxury goods and services with respect to overseas trips. Moreover, the economic situation, such as the increased cost of living in Japan, influenced the results.